Talent Night
by TheFABFive2015
Summary: TAG 2015. Another follow up story to Legacy, kindly inspired by my good friend, Champion The Wonder Snail. Who'd have thought that just mentioning 'cheese' would reveal so many other secrets? Oh, Scott. You really should know better.


Hello again! Yes, as promised, here's another little follow up to Legacy - kindly inspired by my good friend, ChampionTheWonderSnail.

It's set after the second lot of rescues that they all get called out to at the end of the episode. Now they're all safely home again - the boys, and Kayo, and... well, let's just say that some more surprising secrets are about to be revealed!

Enjoy! And thanks again, Champ, for giving my bunnies such a wonderful carrot!

* * *

Talent Night

They'd come back hungry. No, scratch that. From a day of fighting The Hood, and back to back rescues, they'd come back _ravenous_. If not for Virgil's heroic intervention -

" _Whoa_! _Easy there_ , _Gordo_ , _you can't be that delirious_..."

\- Gordon would have succumbed to the Dark Side, and Grandma's even darker cookies.

Instead, they'd gathered around a stack of pizza boxes, and... well, just gone for it. About to offer them one of MAX's best pies for dessert, Grandma had taken one look at the feeding frenzy in front of her, and wisely headed back to the kitchen. Too close to those devouring mouths, and she'd have lost an arm.

Now just one, lonely slice of Easy Cheesy remained. Kinda like that last slice of Thanksgiving turkey, that everyone thinks they'll just finish off, but are too stuffed to move for.

Sprawled at full length on his favourite couch, Scott couldn't stand it any longer. While the rest of his pack cradled their aching stomachs, he waved an idle hand towards what remained of the Leaning Tower of Pizza.

"Hey, Virg? Pass me that last slice, would ya?"

Equally stuffed, so much he'd had to discreetly loosen his jeans, Virgil shot his eldest brother the look he purely deserved.

"And your last slave died of _what_?!"

Eyes still closed, and legs still draped over his lap, his would be servant's master _wasn't_ impressed.

"Insubordination. Now, pass me that box, lowly serf... or I'll tell Kayo what happens when you eat too much cheese."

Yeah, that would do it. Nothing like some toe-curling blackmail to put a rebellious little brother back in his place. And, really, how considerate of said rebellious little brother to plonk that hard earned slice right over his nose. It made the effort of eating it so much easier. Tilt head, open mouth, and munch. No holding required.

Bit messy, though, with all that dough and Monterey Jack oozing over his face, but still... aaaah, yes. This was the life.

Of course, a foot massage would make it just about perfect, but... hmmm, maybe better not to suggest it. Even a fed-for-the-century Sasquatch had its limits. No, he'd just settle for this comfy couch, thank you, and the best leg-rest in the world.

Yes, this was the life, all right. One of your favourite dinners, then good old fashioned nap time with the rest of the kids, and -

"So, Virgil... what _does_ happen when you eat too much cheese?"

\- uh oh.

Cranking an eye open, Scott risked a furtive, under-arm glance towards his feet. Well, not so much those snuggled size twelves, but up their cradle of red and black plaid, until he found the face of his brother.

His suddenly open mouthed, like-deer-in-headlights brother.

'Uh oh' indeed.

No-one, aside from an evil big brother, mentioned Virgil Tracy and cheese in the same breath. Or at least, no-one who knew its repercussions. Still, that didn't stop a smile from creeping over Scott's face as he settled back for the entertainment. What better way to finish a knockout dinner, than dinner plus a show?

Luckily for him, but less so for his now death-glaring brother, Kayo was all up for some fun too. And while the snorts of laughter around her had answered most of her question already, the greater part of it was still an irresistible mystery.

The part that would surely explain why six foot plus of built like a barn Virgil suddenly looked like a two year old who'd been caught with his hand in mommy's best cookie jar. Whose face now creased into a wince of resignation, that there was no way in hell to get out of this moment with any part of his dignity intact.

He'd try, though. Hell, yes, he'd try.

"Well, I... um... kinda... sing."

Was there the slightest chance, though, that that would be enough to save his much maligned hide? Was there hell.

"... _in_... _his_... _sleep_..."

"...with all the dance moves too..."

"...and if he _really_ overdoes it, he'll even serenade us with a nice bit of opera..."

Caught up in the moment, that last gem of brotherly dirt-digging had come from Scott. Biggest big brother himself, whose comfort now came to an abrupt but inevitable end. If not for the arm-rest behind him, that 'up-and-over' leg-toss would have tipped him into the mother of backflips.

Still, on the plus side, it gave Kayo a view of the head of International Rescue that few people had been lucky enough to see. A rather nice one, too. Very nice indeed. And however bravely he'd fought against it, Virgil had succumbed to the inevitable too, now, and dissolved into rumbles of laughter.

"Yeah, and if you get him a bit too tipsy on Dr Pepper, he can burp out the Star Spangled Banner."

Halfway through his own chuckles, Scott cringed once more. Grabbed the cushion from behind his head, and shielded as much of himself as he could manage behind it. If mentioning cheese and his somnambulating brother rated as ' _uh_ _oh_ ' on his Calamity Scale, then tagging 'Dr P' after it was like declaring Armageddon.

Still, at least he wasn't the one who'd get back-flipped for it. No, this second round of _'I'm-gonna-kill-you-for-that_!' payback would fall on his youngest brother.

Yes, little Baby Face himself, whose baby brother bravado, if not his sense of self preservation, knew no bounds. Who'd just come to realize that revealing his brother's other secret talent maybe, just _maybe_ , hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Defying gravity, and just waaaaay too much pizza, the Sasquatch rose from its lair, and set off towards _its_ idea of dessert.

Ever watchful for brotherly bloodshed, Scott was sitting up too now. All seriousness, all ready to step in as Virgil homed in on his target. Yes, of course he knew the family bear would die himself before letting the family cub come to any harm, but... hmm. Yeah, just sitting back down beside him was okay. So was the response that came through a beaming, benevolent grin.

"Hey, I'm not the only one with secret talents here... yeah, _Allie's_ got 'em too."

He did? As Scott blinked in surprise, so Alan did the same - too intrigued by this little revelation to object over that teasing nickname.

"I - I do?"

The grin widened. Eyes gleamed. And against his own curiosity, Scott's Calamity Scale jumped a bit further towards _'Run for Your Life_.'

"Oh, _absolutely_! Here, let _me_ let _you_ show 'em off."

To a yelp of futile protest, Virgil scooped Alan onto his lap, then rolled them both carefully onto the floor in front of their couch - bracing one hand between his brother's shoulders, while the other kept a gentle grip on his feet.

From there, he just... oh, good grief.

Still spellbound by the sight in front of him, it was all Scott could do to just nod through its explanation. A bit too late to make any difference, he'd stay saner that way.

"Yup, best way to work out is with the help of your favourite baby brother."

Lifted and lowered like a humanised feather, Alan was all set to object to that. But then he started to giggle instead, as the pure joy of it took him over.

"Hey, this is _soooo_ cool!"

All _'for-God's-sake-don't-drop-him!'_ instincts aside, Scott couldn't argue there either. Watching this masterclass in brotherly machismo _was_ kinda cool.

Kinda hypnotic too. Up. Down. Up. Down. Enough for three sets of eyes to do the same. So yes, in terms of strength and skill, this was pretty impressive. But not as impressive as another little brother suggested it _could_ be.

"Yeah, but I bet Virg can't bench us both at the same time."

Oh yes, he could. With careful balancing, and even greater skill, Virgil 'Brother-Benching' Tracy didn't just raise his two youngest brothers to new heights, but his coolness rating too. At least, until gravity and laughter finally got the better of him, and left him buried under his equally helpless weights.

Still, he'd more than proved his point. All well and good for him, of course, but less so for his eldest brother, who now _really_ wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Yes, those three widening grins, and Kayo's deceptively innocent question sealed it.

"Soooo if Virgil can bench press Gordon and Alan, at the same time... what secret talents do _you_ have, Scott?"

Yup. That crack about sleep-singing brothers and finest mozzarella was about to bite him square in the butt. Not just once.

"Well, he _thinks_ he can sing..."

Or twice.

"...when in fact, he can sing as well as Alan can dance..."

" _Hey_!"

Aaah, John, and his ever perfect sense of timing. Damn it, did brotherly love mean nothing to this thankless bunch?

'... _yeah, wait 'til your next trip home, Johnny boy... see if you'll find this all so funny then_...'

Still deciding if he should just nobble his brother's shower, or superglue his shoes to the patio, Scott almost missed butt-bite number three.

"...of course, Scooter can't dance to save his life either..."

"Yeah, it's like his feet have gotten glued to the floor, and he just waves the rest of him about... you know, like this..."

Ooookay, so now he had two fiendish paybacks to plan out. Or maybe he'd go the whole hog, and teach all four of these smirking jokers a lesson they'd never forget. More immediately, though... well, little brother number four was the closest, so little brother number four would do for now.

And, most important of all, that attempt to imitate him _sucked_. Time for big brother to step up to the plate of total embarrassment, and show his little padawan how it _should_ be done.

"Actually, it's more like _this._ "

Okay, so flailing his arms around like a windmill caught in a cyclone did nothing for his dignity, but it still gave him a priceless advantage. Enjoying the show too much to notice how close his big brother now was to him, Alan's next awareness was being tickle-hugged back onto the couch.

Yes, another little rebellion, crushed into a wreck of wriggling giggles. When he finally deigned to show mercy, the ruler of this island kingdom was well and truly back in charge. With, of course, a bit more gloating to match.

"Yeah, nice to see Take 'Em Out Tracy hasn't lost his touch."

Indeed it was. That height and deceptive strength had made him the star of his junior high's football team. Unfortunately, his brothers knew it too.

"Yeah, wasn't the coach's daughter your first girlfriend?"

Gordon this time, who'd clearly thought he was somehow safe from tickle-hugging brothers. With his arms still full of nicely subdued rebel, Scott settled instead for his equally feared and revered means of keeping order. 'The Look', that quickly gave way to a devilish grin.

"From the guy who swore his eternal love to a _monkfish_."

Mortified silence. Followed, of course, by unmitigated glee.

"...who actually _kissed_ it..."

"...on the _lips_..."

"...yeah, Squiddy, whatever happened to her?"

"Hey, didn't you hear, Virg? He dumped her for an octopus."

" _Nooooo_!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Aww, _shut up_!"

From there, of course, it was every self-respecting Tracy for himself.

"...Virgil's got musical armpits..."

"...Alan once tried to sleep hanging by his _feet_ on his _doorframe_..."

"...yeah, that explains a lot, and... hey, John? Didn't you get stuck in that Plushie-Grab machine?"

"...hey, it was just my _arm_ , okay? And I had to get _something_ for all those quarters."

"...but at least you got me that shuttle, and... hey, Gords? Can you still do that weird thing of a sea lion catching a fish?"

"...you mean this?"

*ork... ork... ork...*

"...yeah, that's it... cool...!"

"...yeah, but not as cool as Scott making rockets out of balloons and straws... or John blowing up the kitchen for his science project..."

"...no, Gords, that was just messy, and... jeez, you remember that? You were only, what... four back then?"

"...yep... and yes, I am a human sponge... I remember _everything_."

"... me too... and as I recall, Scooter, _your_ home made fighter jet nearly took out your teacher..."

"...look, I was _ten_ , okay? And it couldn't have scared her that much, it still won me the top prize."

"...yeah, only 'cos she just loved your _adooooooorable_ dimples..."

"...hey, if you've got 'em, flaunt 'em..."

Flaunting them now, for all they were worth, Scott then glanced towards Kayo. The only one of them who hadn't had their deepest, strangest and just outright silliest secrets exposed.

Of course, admitting that one of your worst enemies was also one of your closest relatives was a doozie all by itself. And while she'd more than proved where her loyalties lay... well, reminding her that she was still part of this crazy family wouldn't do any harm. Right?

"So, Kayo... any little talents you'd like to tell us about?"

Wrong. A raised eyebrow suggested he'd regret mentioning that, as much as he'd regretted bringing up that damn cheese. Well, too late to fret about that now. All he could do was hope she didn't bend him too badly on their next training session, and... _what the hell_?!

"Well, I trained as a ballet dancer, but I'm better at tap... I can make myself into a crab table... juggle six bats with a blindfold on... make stink bombs out of whatever you have in the larder... oh, and I can walk on my hands."

Yeah, that had him. And, as four other stunned faces suggested, every one of his brothers too. Before he could react, though... yes, trust his little mini-me to get there first.

"Stink bombs out of _flour_ and _garlic_?! No way!"

"Oh, _way_ ," Kayo grinned, with enough glee in her eyes to make Scott cringe as she nodded towards the stairs. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

Aah, home made stink bombs. Just the kind of challenge that the world's most long suffering brother just _loved_ to hear. As its most targeted victim, _this_ big brother wasn't taking any chances.

"N-No, uh... that's okay, I'll... um, just take your word for it."

With that threat now safely averted, Scott then cast her a more serious, approving smile as the greater significance of what he'd said sunk in. Yes, there were talents in this family to make the sanest psychiatrist run screaming for the hills. But the greatest talent that they all mutually shared was the best, the most unique, and the most priceless one in the world.

Day in, day out, they kept that world safe. And if there was any kind of gift more precious than that, then... well, for the life of him, Scott couldn't think of it.

Still smiling, he then glanced just as proudly around him. Thankfully unaided by any kind of soda, Virgil was now humming through his latest composition, while Gordon and Alan had huddled around Kayo. Still eager, no doubt, to learn more about making themselves into crab tables, and juggling those bats, and rustling up those home made stink bombs, and... uh oh.

Rising to his feet, Scott headed towards the stairs that led down to the kitchen. As a child, he'd been so good at Hide And Seek that it had taken John and Virgil hours to find him. With his Calamity Alert now blaring out 'Action Stations', this was the perfect time to put those talents to more up to date use - and move that flour and garlic somewhere else.


End file.
